“Pinxian Dairy’s Second Processing Plant covers an area of two hundred mu and primarily processes milk, beverages, ice cream, and other products. It employs nearly two thousand people. The fire broke out in its cold-storage facility.” Ren Yi glanced at the information Liang Wei, captain of Jiuwan Fire Station, had sent him and gave a brief summary of the situation. “Which part of the plant were Feilan and the others visiting?”
Pinxian Group was one of the leading dairy companies in the country. The school trip had been organized at its newly completed factory, reportedly built at an investment of 1.2 billion yuan and equipped with some of the most advanced technology and equipment in the world. Naturally, a factory of this scale was also a major fire-safety priority for the fire department.
“Probably the production line. I don’t know whether the visit included the cold-storage facility.” Gong Yingxian’s face was pale. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, and he looked as though he wished he could fly there.
Ren Yi gently placed his hand over Gong Yingxian’s, which was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white.
“Yingxian, you have to calm down. Don’t frighten yourself with worst-case scenarios. The factory is far from the city center and filled with metal structures and electronic equipment. The reason the calls aren’t getting through could simply be poor signal. The captain of the local fire station just told me that there’s smoke, but no visible flames yet. That means the fire is probably still at a controllable stage.”
“Cold-storage facilities generally contain large amounts of polystyrene in their building materials. The smoke they release is toxic. Even if Feilan is nearby, she could still be in serious danger.” Gong Yingxian took a deep breath. “If this is another premeditated crime by Purple Flame, then they may be targeting Feilan.”
Any accident occurring around them now could potentially be connected to Purple Flame. They weren’t being paranoid. Purple Flame was desperately trying to kill them by any means necessary, willing to take reckless risks, sacrifice its own followers, and expose itself repeatedly to achieve that goal. It was behaving like a cornered animal.
Perhaps this was indirect proof that Gong Yingxian’s relentless investigation had brought them so close to the truth that they no longer had the time or freedom to stay hidden.
“Don’t overthink it yet. You’re only scaring yourself.” Ren Yi was just as worried, but he didn’t dare show it. If both of them panicked, it would do no good at all. “The factory has its own dedicated firefighting team and security personnel. Feilan is with her teachers and classmates. They’ll evacuate everyone safely.”
Gong Yingxian struggled to regulate his breathing, but his eyes remained bloodshot.
While they waited at a red light, Ren Yi gently turned Gong Yingxian’s chin toward him and gazed deeply into his eyes.
“Yingxian, trust me. Feilan will be safe.”
Looking into Ren Yi’s resolute eyes, Gong Yingxian felt himself calm somewhat. He nodded firmly, and his breathing gradually steadied.
Just then, his phone chimed. He picked it up, glanced at the screen, and handed it to Ren Yi.
“Uncle Sheng managed to get the supervising teacher’s phone number. Try calling.”
Ren Yi dialed the number, but the line was continuously busy. He sent a text message as well and said, “I guess a lot of people are trying to call the teachers right now.”
Gong Yingxian slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “Call the driver for me.”
Ren Yi called the driver, who answered almost immediately.
“Young Master!”
“What’s the situation at the scene?” Gong Yingxian asked in a low voice.
“Several fire engines and police cars have arrived. We’ve been pushed outside the cordon. All we can see now is smoke coming from one of the factory buildings. Employees and students are being evacuated. We haven’t seen Miss Feilan yet, but she may be among those students.”
“Keep watching. Notify me immediately if you see Feilan.”
Ren Yi continued studying the fire-safety records for Pinxian’s Second Plant, his brows tightly furrowed.
The factory complex was enormous. The building on fire was a refrigerated warehouse, and cold-storage facilities were constructed very differently from ordinary buildings to maintain insulation. Their walls, in particular, contained layers of specialized materials.
As a result, fires in cold-storage facilities often began as smoldering fires inside those wall cavities. Smoke could appear long before anyone detected visible flames, making it difficult to locate the exact source of the fire. If there were still no visible flames, the fire might not yet have grown large enough to spread extensively. Perhaps they could still contain it at the initial stage.
Otherwise, the cold-storage facility and the wider factory complex contained large quantities of liquid ammonia used for refrigeration, along with other flammable and explosive substances. If the situation got out of control, the consequences would be unthinkable.
An emergency of this magnitude would require at least five or six fire stations to mobilize, with more than a hundred firefighters and officers. Yan Jue’s Western Suburbs Fire Station might well have been called in, too.
Ren Yi picked up his phone, intending to call Yan Jue, but after thinking it over, he put it down again. There was no point in frantically calling everyone he knew. Yan Jue couldn’t possibly know more about the situation than Liang Wei did.
At that moment, Gong Yingxian’s phone rang again. He quickly picked it up. It was Tan Haochun calling, and he immediately switched to speakerphone.
“Dr. Gong, what did you mean by that message you just sent to the group? Something happened at Pinxian’s Second Plant?”
“Yes. There’s a fire. My sister is there with her teachers and classmates on a school visit. Contact the Xicheng District Police Bureau immediately. They’ve already sent patrol cars to the scene and will have a clearer picture of the situation. I suspect Purple Flame is behind this again.”
Tan Haochun drew a sharp breath. “Th-then you’re on your way there now?”
“Yes. Have you intercepted anything online related to Pinxian’s Second Plant?”
“We just searched. Nothing suspicious came up.” In fact, the police monitored social media activity across the internet. Whenever necessary, they could search for specific keywords through the platforms’ databases.
“Keep monitoring. If Purple Flame is responsible, at the very least, the Chitian Angel will be paying attention.”
“There’s actually another major discovery we’ve made, but… I’ll tell you about it later.”
“No. Tell me now.”
“Over the past few days, with the cooperation of several banks, we’ve used online tracing to identify several members of money-laundering organizations. After monitoring their phone calls and social media accounts, we uncovered several private bank accounts. We now have multiple pieces of evidence suggesting that one of these accounts belongs to Bai Chicheng.”
Gong Yingxian and Ren Yi exchanged a glance.
“The account holder is an unemployed young man. Both the sources and movements of the money are suspicious. He used to have no stable income and practically no money coming into his bank account. But during the period since Bai Chicheng was placed on the wanted list, several separate deposits have been made into this account. The amounts aren’t large, but each deposit is split into several portions and withdrawn from different bank branches. Most of those branches are concentrated in areas that overlap with the locations where we believe Bai Chicheng may be hiding.”
“Have you found this young man?”
“We’ve obtained his photograph and narrowed down the area where he lives. Brother Qiang has already taken a team to arrest him.” Tan Haochun gave a contemptuous snort, sounding thoroughly vindicated. “They hired a PR company to smear Captain Ren online, and instead, they exposed their own money trail. What goes around comes around.”
“Catch him as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry. Then I’ll—” Tan Haochun suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! Wait!”
“What is it?”
On the other end of the phone, they could hear Tan Haochun talking to a colleague. The conversation seemed to mention Pinxian’s Second Plant.
Both men strained to listen, staring tensely at the phone.
A minute later, Tan Haochun picked up the phone again. His breathing had become noticeably quicker.
“One of my colleagues just found a post related to Pinxian’s Second Plant. I’m not sure whether it has anything to do with what’s happening right now, but you absolutely need to hear about it.”
“Tell me.”
“That Fang Zhixu… During the period when Captain Ren was being attacked online, he posted a lot of comments on social media. Some of them were extremely aggressive.”
Both men froze at the name.
Ren Yi asked, “What did he say?”
“At first, he was furious and defended you. Later, he turned his anger toward your station, implying that the station’s poor response had dragged you down. Then, after the private hospital issue and your university grades were exposed, his anger shifted toward you personally. Several of his posts contradict one another. In one, he criticizes you; in another, he defends you. It’s difficult to determine what’s going on in his head.”
Ren Yi asked urgently, “Did he post anything about Pinxian’s Second Plant?”
Fang Zhixu attended the same school as Gong Feilan. They weren’t in the same year, so they might not have been on the same tour, but Fang Zhixu would certainly have known that students were visiting Pinxian’s Second Plant.
Just thinking about that possibility sent a chill down Ren Yi’s spine.
“He only reposted a notice from the school’s official account announcing that students would be visiting Pinxian’s Second Plant. He didn’t add any comment to that repost. But in his next post, he wrote just a few words.”
Tan Haochun took a deep breath before reading them aloud.
“‘The Phoenix must be reborn through fire.’”
“That’s… that’s all?”
“I’m looking through his posts right now. Since that repost, he hasn’t participated in any online arguments about you for the past few days. That’s extremely unusual. Before this, he was very active.” Tan Haochun’s voice grew serious. “We work with data all the time, analyzing every aspect of human behavior through it. Based on my instincts, combined with Dr. Gong’s previous psychological assessment of him, I’d say something is very wrong with this boy.”
Gong Yingxian’s expression was dreadful.
“Try to contact him. If you can’t reach him by phone, go to his home. Find him at all costs.”
Ren Yi slumped against the back of his seat, remembering what Gong Yingxian had told him about Fang Zhixu’s unhealthy obsession with him. His anxiety grew unbearable.
“Could he be involved in this?” His voice trembled despite himself.
“I don’t know,” Gong Yingxian said hoarsely. “But if I were Purple Flame, he’d be an ideal person to exploit. An ignorant, impulsive teenager who thinks he’s clever is exactly the kind of person who can be easily brainwashed and manipulated.”
Ren Yi clenched his fists. Thinking of Fang Zhixu’s still-boyish face, he felt anger flare in his chest.
Gong Yingxian drove to Pinxian’s Second Plant as fast as he possibly could.
Several fire engines and police vehicles were already positioned at the scene, their crews on high alert. The tension in the air weighed heavily on everyone present.
Night had fallen, but the thick black smoke billowing into the sky looked like some evil force descending from the heavens. Illuminated by the emergency lights, it appeared even more menacing and terrifying.